5 Ideas for Organizing Children’s Books

Children’s books are an important part of childhood (and parenthood), but a collection of board books, picture books, and nursery rhyme books can easily get out of control. Here are some useful ideas for organizing children’s books.

 

1. Edit, edit, and edit.

Before you start to organize your children’s books, focus on editing the books that you have. Do your kids currently read all of the books that they own? Are there some books that they’ve outgrown or books that are too advanced for them to read right now? Donate books that you don’t think your kids will read anymore and store away advanced books in sealed plastic bins to pull out at a later time. If your collection is still so big after some editing, you can rotate out books the same way some parents rotate out toys so that your kids always have something “new” to read. This editing process should be done yearly or bi-yearly.

 

2. Keep the books easily accessible to your kids.

The more accessible your children’s books are, the more likely that your kids will actually read the books and put them away when they’re done. Which spots in your home are more accessible to your kids — their playroom, their rooms, or the living room? Consider your children’s heights when placing the books on a bookshelf or wall ledges. If you have a toddler, put the books facing forward so your young reader can easily see where his/her favorite books are at.

In the same vein, if there are some precious books that you’d rather not get damaged, such as books from your own childhood, put them at a higher height to keep them away from your kids, yet still available when you’re there to supervise or read with them.

 

3. Categorize books in some way.

Maybe one of your kids love ghost stories while another is a fan of fairy tales. You could divide some of the children’s books into smaller plastic bins or cardboard boxes and label them according to theme, reading level, or any other category that will work well with your children’s reading preferences. Another idea for organizing children’s books into categories is to use color stickers on the spine of the books and assign each color to a category.

 

4. Have a separate spot for library books.

The library late fees can quickly build up if you don’t have a system to prevent your library books from mixing into kids’ books. Designate a basket or bag to always hold the library books and simply grab the whole thing when you head to the library.

 

5. Involve your kids in organizing children’s books.

However you choose to organize your children’s books, be sure to include your kids in the decision making process and have them help you set up the system. They’ll be more motivated to keep up with the system and keep everything organized and neat.

If you’re still building your collection of children’s books, here are some great suggestions for ages 1-3 and ages 4-8. When you’re done organizing children’s books, why not create a fun little reading nook for your kids?

 

Featured image courtesy of {Smith} Peas in a Pod.